Help! Problem with photographer

[o9kristin]

Hi sissies. I need your advice. We got married last year but our photographer lost our pics. Nanakaw daw yung laptop and external hard drive. Ano bang pwedeng gawin sa ganitong case? Refund? I know hindi rin naman ginusto ni photographer yung nangyari pero unfair naman para samin na nagbayad ng buo.. Depressing pa yung nangyari because parang nasayang lang lahat. Yung pictures na babalik balikan mo sana hanggang sa pagtanda mo, wala na.. may back up photographer naman pero yung mga kuha namin sa kanya hindi kami nakatingin. Kumukuha lang sya habang kinukuhanan kami nung main photographer so all throughout the event sa main photographer kami nakatingin.

Nakakainis pa kasi may post yung may ari sa FB na parang walang karapatang mag sue yung isa pa na nilang client dahil di naman daw nila ginusto yun. Duh! Sana hindi na lang nagpost ng ganun. Mas lalo namang hindi ginusto ng couple yun. Kung may agrabyado  sa nangyari yun yung mga couples na nawalan at hindi sila!

[smld]

sis, sad to hear about this =( check your contract for this clause kung namention sya. I agree na dapat hindi na nag post sa FB, parang unprofessional ang dating.

[sevenstars]

So sorry to hear that, o9kristin. What does your photographer's contract say? Mine guarantees a full refund in case of non-delivery, which I think is fair.

[o9kristin]

Walang nakalagay sa contract e.. hindi na namin naisip yun when we signed it since hindi namin ineexpect na mangyayari to.. sobrang sad talaga..

[120515]

o9kristin, i hope you can settle it amicably with the photographer if there's nothing about it in the contract. maybe you and your husband can decide what amount you would like to get back as compensation - 50% of the price paid or whatever % suits you ad agree this with the photographer. however, i do agree that the photographer should just have kept this out of facebook.

[sevenstars]

I think the photographer should refund your money, but if it's not in the contract I'm not sure how much legal recourse you have. Is it possible for you to bring it to a lawyer? Even if failure to deliver is not explicitly addressed, it's still a breach of contract since you don't have your pictures. It would be less stressful to settle it amicably but based on your anecdote about the Facebook post, it doesn't sound like your photographer feels the need to provide compensation...

Can I ask -- was the laptop and hard drive stolen right after your wedding? In any other situation I feel like the photographer should have had backups of the photos elsewhere. All the photographers I spoke to said they backed the photos up to multiple sources (drives, the cloud, etc) right after the wedding to minimise the chances of losing anything.

[caleeice]

If that happens to us, we would really sue the supplier. It's not just about the money, but it's more of the pain that he caused. Imagine not having pictures on your wedding day! It's not something you can do over.

If you don't want to resort to that, you can first talk to them. Ask them what they plan to do about it. If they don't cooperate (kapal nila if they don"t ha!), you can seek legal counsel. Your lawyer can send a demand letter asking for a refund AND damages and threaten to sue if they fail to do so. Then try to reach out again, maybe you can still amicably settle the case. Kung wala pa rin, just file a case against them to exert pressure on them.

[o9kristin]

Thanks for all the advice. We'll set a meeting with them to talk about it. I really do hope they'll cooperate. True, it's not about the money. Yung laptop and external hard drive madaling palitan yun. Pero yung pictures namin, hindi na. It looks like hindi marunong mag back up yung photog. Feeling ko hindi naman right after the wedding nawala kasi it took months before they told us what happened. Or   baka wala talaga silang plan sabihin? Napansin ko lang kasi sa mga pinost nilang pictures na puro hindi kami nakatingin sa camera and iba yung quality. Halatang hindi galing sa main photog. Then nung tinanong ko kung pwede i-upload yung ibang pictures, saka lang sinabi na nawala..

I really do hope na we won't be needing legal advice for this. We're expecting kasi and hanggat maaari ayokong ma stress nang dahil lang sa kanila..

[120515]

it seems they weren't in good faith if they didn't tell you right away that they lost your data. but talk to them first and try to settle it. however, if they give you a hard time then like the other girls have suggested, you can opt to get a lawyer and sue. though in that case, please do consider whether the benefits you'll get from suing will outweigh the costs.

[paula_vill]

Aw sad to hear this sis The photog should have told you immediately what happened, hindi yung ikaw pa yung kung hindi ka pa nagtanong, hindi pa nila sasabihin what happened. I feel for you sis. Hope your meeting with the photog will turn out well.

[zizichick]

^i know this, i saw what happened immediately after the photog got home after he reports the incident to the authority, because all of these is in his fb. I'm not saying walang kasalanan yung photog pero nakita ko yung effort nya to retrieve those photos. He is willing nga to buy back sa magnanakaw yung hard drive or ipalit yung camera nya. Na sana camera na lang daw yung kinuha. He hired or seeked help pa nga yata to experts to retrieve/restore those data sa CF card ng camera nya kahit deleted na yung files sa CF card nya. Don't say wala syang back up kasi nga nasa laptop at hard disk nya yung data which is nanakaw lahat sa loob ng bahay nya, buti nga walang tao baka may masama pa nangyari or may napatay pa. Don't expect him to have cloud storage kasi di naman sya high end photog na you'll pay a lot. I'm not saying na wala karapatan si TS na magreklamo. She has all the rights naman to be upset and magalit. As client lang like us, wag naman natin i-drop kaagad na "we will sue you" kaagad-agad. We need to talk to them ng mahinahon. Kahit i sue naman natin sila maibabalik pa ba yung photos? Mas malaki nga makukuha mong danyos kung manalo ka sa case, pero is it all worth it, so may kapalit pala dapat na price? I'm also a client as well at first nalungkot at affected ako sa mga clients nya I would know the feeling but since nakita ko yung effort nya, i would/willing to give him a dialog to settle these things first. I'm not sure din bakit di nasabi kaagad sau ng may-ari, but im sure all the info I have nabasa ko lang sa fb ng photog and he knows me lang as his client. Hopefully the meeting went well and maayos nyo sya.